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Seco Tools, LLC has donated almost half a million dollars in metalworking tools to training centers, community colleges, technical programs and high schools throughout the Midwest and Pennsylvania. The selection of tools included a variety of new and unused high quality solid-carbide, high-speed steel (HSS) and cobalt end mills used for milling operations.

Citing its dedication to closing the skills gap in manufacturing, the company says collaborating with and supporting learning institutions that specialize in hands-on shop training can aid in filling the growing number of jobs being vacated by many individuals retiring from the workforce. Plus, the training programs can retrain existing workers on technological advances that help to further overall manufacturing productivity.

“Throughout the year, we perform audits of our warehouse stock to clear out discontinued items, over-produced specials and other products that cannot or are unlikely to be sold in the future,” says Dale Higgins, technical support specialist at Seco. “In the past, we have recycled these tools to recoup a portion of our costs, but this year we decided that giving the entire $412,035 worth of tooling to schools that are training the future workforce is really more valuable to us and to our industry.”

One recipient of Seco’s donation, the Cleveland Industrial Training Center, is a CNC training facility located within an actual manufacturing facility in Cleveland, with a second facility in Akron. The centers provide concentrated CNC training that prepares 180 graduates each year with the skills they need to program and run machines and produce accurate parts. The program, in its 22nd year, boasts a high job placement rate. “We often get donations, but certainly not of this quantity and quality,” says Tim Duffy, president of Cleveland Industrial Training Center, about the significance of this gift. “The scope and breadth of what Seco donated will take care of us for years to come for certain categories of tools.”

In addition to the Cleveland Industrial Training Center, the following schools also received tool donations from Seco: